Method of modeling busts.



PATENTED 00131, 1905.

0. MAYER. METHOD OF MODELING BUSTS.

APPLICATION FILED JAIL B. 1905.

Fig. 1

WITNESSES.

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed January 6,1905. Serial No. 239.959.

To all whom it may concern:-

. Long Island, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and -useful Improvements in Methods of Modeling Busts, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a new method of modeling busts, and has for its object to allow more natural reproductions from life and to reduce the price therefor.

My new method is intended to be used principally for scientific purposes, as for the exhibition in museums of natural history or the like, in which cases the modeler must put most weight on the likeness of his work-with the original subject, and he must also be-able to produce such busts in the shortest possible time. The latter condition comes in consideration particularly when the value of the reproductions lies less in the artistic finish, but more in the exactness of the execution and the likeness of the original subject.

Hitherto to produce a bust from a person it has been necessary first to produce a model from clay or any other suitable modeling material, for which purpose a repeated sitting of the said person has been unavoidable; but it is well known that such sittings are very tiresome for the sitter and that this method takes considerable time and is consequently very expensive. Besides, not always the person the bust of whom is to be produced has the time for the sittings, nor is he willing to sit. My new method does not require such sittings, and therefore does away with all the inconventilences and disadvantages connected therew1t In order to make my invention more clear, the same is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which I igure 1 shows the mask taken from life; Fig. 2, the cast made from the mask; Fig. 3, the piece-mold made from the cast; Fig. 4:. the basis form of the bust, and Fig. 5 the artistically-finished bust.

From the person the bust of whom it is desired to be produced I make a plaster mask (see Fig. 1) or a so-called life or dead mask in the following manner: While the person is sitting erect the face is greased and a lukewarm creamy mass of plaster that is slightly colored with yellow ocher or wash-blue of about one-quarter-inch thickness is applied thereto. In order to quicken the process, I admix to the plaster some salt. This is the first coating. The second coating consists of white plaster and is adapted to strengthen the mask. In order to get the natural appearance of the muscles and at the same time to allow the sitter to watch the process, and thus be at ease, the nostrils and the eyes are not covered, but left open, so that the sitter can see and breathe. When the mask or mold is ready, which shows the reverse of the original person, a cast (see Fig. 2) is made therefrom, and from the latter a piece-mold of plaster-of-paris or any other suitable material is produced in the well-known manner. (See Fig. 3.) I then press into the finished piece-mold clay or like plastic material or cast into the same modeling-wax, and thus receive upon removal of the piece-mold the basis of the desired bust, (see Fig. 4,) which will be an exact reproduction of the original, having the precise proportional measurements and all the features of the same. There remains now but one more step, and this is to put the finishing touches to the basis bust and correct some features that may have suffered during the process. (See Fig. 5.) These finishing touches and corrections can be made in the absence of the original person according to photographs taken from the latter.

This method, which so far as described appears to be a mechanical method of producing busts of subjects or objects from life and designed especially for scientific purposes, can be also utilized for fine sculpture-work or fine art, as the basis-bust can be given by the artist a full and high artistic finish and be idealized to suit the taste of the artist or public. The busts produced according to the present new method will have that further advantage over those made according to the old method that they will perfectly correspond in their proportional measurements with those of the original person. As with a good training the cast or mask and the piece-mold can be easily and quickly prepared, the price for such reproductions will be greatly reduced. Once a cast is made from the original subject the same can serve for the production of any desired number of busts of the same subject and can be preserved for any length of time.

As already stated, this method will be of the greatest importance for the modeling of busts for museums for scientific purposes, as museums of natural history or the like.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A method of modeling busts which consists in preparing from life or other original, a mask or mold in plaster, preparingacast therefrom and a' piece-mold of plaster-of-paris or any other suitable material from the latter, said piece-mold serving as a basis for the bust to be modeled, pressing or casting clay, Wax or any other plastic material into said piecemold and giving the finishing touches or artistic finish to the impression obtained from the piece-mold according to photographs or I live models, substantially as specified.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 5th day of January, A. D. 1905.

CASPAR MAYER.

Witnesses: I

MAX D. ORDMANN, GEO. J. PALMER. 

